CIVICUS discusses the upcoming Summit of the Future with Ophelia Kemigisha, United Nations (UN) Program Officer at Outright International, a global organisation that works to improve LGBTQI+ rights around the world.
In September, world leaders will gather at the UN World Summit of the Future to adopt the Pact for the Future. In preparation for the summit, civil society, academia and the private sector have contributed to the pact’s draft. Civil society sees the process as an opportunity to strengthen commitments on the environment, human rights and social justice, and CIVICUS advocates for the inclusion of language on the protection and expansion of civic space. But much work remains to be done before, during and after the summit to ensure ambitious commitments are adopted and then realised.
What’s the purpose of the Summit of the Future?
The Summit of the Future is an initiative of the UN Secretary-General to bring together heads of states and governments to discuss the future of global cooperation and what is needed to secure a promising future for humanity, as envisioned in the UN Charter. With only a few years left to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set out in the 2030 Agenda, the recent High-Level Political Forum made it clear we are far behind. This new initiative aims to turbocharge sustainable development and ensure we meet the goal of leaving no one behind.
Scheduled for September, just before the UN General Assembly, this summit aims to breathe new life into the UN in a number of areas: sustainable development, peace and security, science, technology and innovation, youth and future generations and transforming global governance. It is a far-reaching project that seeks to consolidate the UN’s commitments and strategies into a single document that outlines our collective goals and the means to achieve them.
The summit’s outcome document will be the Pact for the Future, which states have been negotiating for several months. It includes two annexes: the Declaration for Future Generations and the Global Digital Compact. The governments of Germany and Namibia are co-facilitating the drafting process for the pact.
How has civil society engaged, and how much influence has it had?
Civil society has been actively involved from the beginning to try to ensure the outcome documents reflect the concerns of all people. This has mainly been through the Major Groups and other Stakeholders Coordination Mechanism, a network of civil society representatives working with various stakeholders to advance the 2030 Agenda.
Outright International is part of the LGBTI stakeholder group. We meet regularly with other organisations to set the agenda and discuss what we want to see in the document. We have also engaged with states and the European Union to stress the importance of drafting an inclusive document that recognises and respects diversity.
We also participated in a civil society conference in Nairobi, where we formed coalitions to contribute to the document on 21 themes. Once the zero draft was finalised, the co-facilitators organised online consultations, inviting us to share our thoughts and suggest changes and inclusions. Two revisions followed.
But it’s been a bumpy ride for civil society. While some of our suggestions have been incorporated, negotiations are still controlled by states who have been quick to remind us they are in the driver’s seat. Civil society has been pushing for more involvement, but ultimately states control the process.
What issues and policies do you advocate for?
LGBTQI+ people aren’t looking for special treatment – we just want to be recognised as having equal dignity and rights. We are people with disabilities, from different ethnic and racial backgrounds, of different ages, with different jobs and families. We want a pact with inclusive language that reflects and respects our diversity.
In the sustainable development chapter, we focus on the elimination of discrimination to ensure social protection and employment opportunities are available to all. We advocate for the inclusion of LGBTQI+ people in economic growth policies, recognising that metrics such as GDP often overlook human wellbeing and sustainability. We must think about development more broadly. We urge global financial institutions to uphold human rights standards and address discrimination in their practices. Sustainable development must go hand in hand with inclusion.
When it comes to peace and security, we want to ensure LGBTQI+ people are included in conflict prevention measures. We also strive for the eradication of gender-based violence against women, transgender people and anyone who doesn’t conform to heterosexual patriarchal norms. Peace is not just the absence of war, and the pact should reflect the fact that people’s bodies are sites of struggle.
In the area of technology, we promote regional cooperation to develop inclusive digital literacy programmes that ensure LGBTQI+ people have internet access. We also want to ensure online spaces are safe for all and LGBTQI+ people are protected from surveillance and harassment.
In the chapter on youth and future generations, we push for young LGBTQI+ people to be included in decision-making processes at all levels so their voices are heard in shaping their future and that of future generations.
In global governance, we advocate for a system based on trust, cooperation, decolonisation, interdependence and distributed power. We stress the importance of strengthening international human rights obligations to prevent states flouting them.
Overall, we advocate for the protection of human rights in their entirety, creating an environment that is truly inclusive and supportive of all people.
What are your expectations for the summit?
Civil society approaches this process with goodwill but also apprehension. We fear the pact will be yet another document with high ideals but little practical impact. It looks like an aspirational document designed to make us feel heard and keep us quiet.
While it contains references to international law and various international agreements, the pact lacks strong accountability measures, which could undermine its effectiveness. It also assumes that existing processes are good enough and merely need to be better implemented. However, institutions such as the UN Security Council need substantial reform.
Moreover, the document is unclear about the next steps – not only in the long term, but also in the near future. States are supposed to review the 2030 Agenda in 2027, which is just around the corner. But they don’t have a clear analysis of where they’ve failed and what they need to do to achieve the SDGs.
Almost nine years have passed since the adoption of the SDGs, and we have seen little progress. It’s hard to put faith in yet another process that looks so much like the previous one.
While we welcome the ‘big dream’ energy and long-term thinking, we have doubts about how this will be translated into practical actions. We need stronger commitments and clear step-by-step implementation strategies.
But we still have some hope that states want change, and that’s why we remain actively engaged. The draft pact has the potential to shift government mindsets and highlight the urgency of addressing challenges. We hope this ‘big picture’ thinking will lead to meaningful multilateral cooperation.
What are your next steps?
We will continue to engage with the co-facilitators, providing feedback and pushing to further strengthen the pact’s language. We want more stakeholders to be involved in the process, but don’t want to be constantly begging for inclusion, so we are advocating for institutionalised participation processes.
We will continue to engage with our constituencies, gather their perspectives and bring these ideas to the table. We will also participate in the Action Days, organising and participating in side events.
But our most crucial role will be to keep the document alive in the longer term, just as we did with the SDGs. We will constantly remind states of their commitments and encourage people to do the same. But to do that, we need clear language and implementation and accountability mechanisms.
Get in touch with Outright International through its website or Facebook and Instagram pages, and follow @OutrightIntl on Twitter. Get in touch with Ophelia through LinkedIn.
This interview was conducted as part of the ENSURED Horizon research project funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewee only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
